He means to put me off my guard, I thought. He believes if he pretends to be kind, I’ll begin to trust him.
That wasn’t going to happen. I slammed the bathing chamber door behind me and locked it, making certain the sound of the bolt turning was loud and distinct.
I was never going to trust the giant bodyguard my husband had hired to abuse and molest me, I swore to myself. Never!
SIX
From the recorded logs of Sark, Hybrid Kindred Warrior and Security Specialist for Hire:
My first thought when we walked into her rooms was that Le’rank’s wife was the most beautiful—and the most frightened—female I’d ever seen in my life.
She was an Elite—that’s what we Kindred call a female with extra curves. She had full, heavy breasts and rounded hips, though I tried not to let my gaze linger on either for too long.
Her skin was a pale, creamy ivory and her hair was silver—not gray and not platinum blonde—actually silver. Her eyes were big and dark and filled with fear as she stared up at me.
I’m a big son-of-a-bitch—maybe not as big as my father’s people, but big enough to strike terror in the hearts of other males. I didn’t want the little female in front of me to fear me, though.
But how could she help it? Her husband had basically ordered me to touch her against her will every damn night and now he had informed us both that her rooms were being monitored, so he was going to know if I didn’t do it.
Can’t fucking do it, I thought to myself as she stared at me with those wide, frightened eyes. Can’t touch her when she clearly doesn’t want me to. Poor little female—she’s scared to death.
Finally that ass, Le’rank, left the room, leaving the two of us alone together. I wondered what kind of a husband he could be. He’d claimed that his wife would sicken if she wasn’t made to “glow” soon and said that both of them were desperate for a child.
But Isla didn’t look sick to me—just scared. And there didn’t seem to be any love lost between the two of them—Le’rank didn’t show her any affection and she stared at him like a prisoner stares at her warden.
Which made me the prison guard. Fuck.
I saw her eyeing the door to the fresher and knew she wanted to escape. But she was looking at me like she expected me to lunge at her. I stood my ground, trying to be as non-threatening as I could, though the Goddess knows it’s difficult to look non-threatening when you’re twice as big as the other person and they’re clearly expecting you to do them violence.
“Do what you want, my lady. I’m not coming after you,” I told her.
She took another look at me and dashed for the door, her white dressing gown and long silver hair flying out behind her. She looked back at me once and I saw confusion in her lovely dark eyes—as though she wondered why I hadn’t chased after her. I just stood there, looking at her until she shut the door and locked it behind her.
Then I cursed quietly and began to pace. Might as well get the lay of the land so I could see where I was going to be spending the next few days until we left for Fenushia Alpha, I told myself.
But I couldn’t get her look of fear out of my mind. Why had the Goddess put me in this situation? What did she want from me? And how was I supposed to fulfill my contract without hurting or abusing the little female who was currently locked in the fresher, hiding from me?
Because I sure as hell wasn’t going to go groping her when she so clearly didn’t want me to. She might have a beautiful body but it was her body—she was the only one who had the right to grant access to it. But if I didn’t touch her, Le’rank could claim breech of contract and possibly hire someone else to guard his wife and make her “glow.”
I was pretty sure that any other male he got in here would be more than willing to cup those heavy breasts and roll the tight pink nipples I’d seen poking through the thin fabric of her dressing gown between their fingers. Not to mention doing much worse—Le’rank had point blank told me I could do everything but fuck her. Any other mercenary he might have hired would have taken him at his word. At least I could try to spare the little female the worst of it.
I would touch her, I decided, but on her terms—not her husband’s. And only because I’d been forced into this situation.
Your move, Goddess, I thought, as I prowled around her rooms. I have no idea what your plan is here, but you’d better show it to me quick!